Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

12 Coming-of-Age Novels That Are Better Than ‘Catcher in the Rye’

I hate Catcher in the Rye: a novel about a privileged Upper East Side kid who doesn’t like exclusive prep schools and has a fun day at various hotels and ice skating rinks while figuring his relatively easy life out.If you are the son of a billionaire hedge fund manager, then perhaps Catcher in the Rye is the perfect coming of age novel for you. … Read More

Owen King introduced himself very simply last night at a fundraising appearance to benefit books in New York schools. He was going to read from Doctor Sleep, he said, then deadpanned, “Which I wrote.” Across the stage, his father Stephen gave him the finger. The crowd of 500 or 600 people, crammed into a theater at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ate it up. … Read More